Building a video processing PC. Need advice

iwb

Hi Guys,
I built a computer to act as a digital video recorder for CCTV monitoring a while back. It has the older type P4 2.8GHz processor and 512MB of ram. When running as I want it to, recording six video channels to the hard drive, the processor is constantly at around 66% usage and goes higher from time to time. The CPU is also running at around 77C and the temp inside the case is at 45C. I don't have a case fan, which I know is a problem but putting one in will make the machine noisier, even if I use a quiet one. I would rather find a solution which means the processor isn't running as hard and hopefully won't get so hot, maybe along with one or two case fans and perhaps more ram, if that would help.
I had thought about a socket 940 solution with a 2.13GHz Pentium M chip but it is very expensive, as is the motherboard. Will an AMD chip be better than a P4 at the same price range, for processor intensive stuff like video compression? Is there a Komplett kit that is close to being suitable? Any other advice on cases etc?
Thanks, iwb.

Nukem

Some nice quiet fans - who recommended them now...........Ask in tweaking and modding but think they were Papst fans which are real quiet.
Also get a nice HS for it to get all that nasty heat away too.Are these options.
For video editing more RAM is all good!

angelofdeath

intel processors are better for video encoding, what you could do is pick up some artic silver 5 and a zalman hsf, should get your temps under control

be sure to look up how to properly apply the artic silver, too much can be a bad thing

iwb

I forgot to mention that I have a upgraded heatsink/fan. It is a 'Bitspower Silent Storm' which I thought should do a fairly decent job by the look of it. Large fan and lots of copper fins.
Is it ok to run the CPU at this level all the time? Do I just need to deal with the heat generated?

angelofdeath

btw i have the 2.8 prescott socket 478, which runs at 55 degrees under load without the case and 60 under load with the case with the stock hsf

the stock hsf needs to be cleaned regularly because it picks up a lot of dust and the temps will go up to 70

thought these might be some good reference figures for you as to what temps you should be getting

iwb

Yes thanks, they are good reference figures. I took the case off the machine temporarily and it is now running at 67C which shows that case fans will improve the situation.
Is it ok to run the processor constantly at 66% though? Does this suggest and under spec'ed machine?

angelofdeath

well i guess it depends on what your doing, the computer im on at the moment has a gv250 cctv system constantly recording 320x240 footage from one camera and that takes up 13-15% of the cpu time, so with 6 channels i guess that works out about right

then obviously with a faster cpu, more ram and a harddrive with faster read/write speeds that 66% should go down

but i don't think theres necessarily any harm in it constantly running at 66%

iwb

I have a GV1240 card in this one. The minimum recommended processors is a P4 2.4. It is a 16 channel card. I imagine if I get carried away and plug in more cameras, it will fall over:)